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The Surreal Task of Landing on a Comet
From ACM Opinion

The Surreal Task of Landing on a Comet

On November 12th 2014 the European Space Agency's Rosetta mission will eject the small robotic lander Philae on a trajectory that should take it down to the surface...

Oculus Rift 'fantastic' But Won't Replace Movies, Says 'minority Report' Fx Guru
From ACM Opinion

Oculus Rift 'fantastic' But Won't Replace Movies, Says 'minority Report' Fx Guru

Oculus Rift is "fantastic" but virtual reality won't replace movies just yet, according to two legends of special effects.

The Web Is a Terrorist's Command-and-Control Network of Choice
From ACM Opinion

The Web Is a Terrorist's Command-and-Control Network of Choice

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isis) is the first terrorist group whose members have grown up on the internet.

Ft Interview with Google Co-Founder and Ceo Larry Page
From ACM Opinion

Ft Interview with Google Co-Founder and Ceo Larry Page

Wouldn't the world be a happier place if 90 per cent of the people with jobs put their feet up instead and left the robots to do the work?

What Is It Like to Control a Robotic Arm with a Brain Implant?
From ACM Opinion

What Is It Like to Control a Robotic Arm with a Brain Implant?

Jan Scheuermann is not your average experimental subject.

Megan Smith: 'you Can Affect Billions of People'
From ACM Opinion

Megan Smith: 'you Can Affect Billions of People'

Now that you work at the White House, approximately how many times a day do you find yourself thinking, God, we did this so much better at Google?

Human Spaceflight: Find Asteroids to Get to Mars
From ACM Opinion

Human Spaceflight: Find Asteroids to Get to Mars

Interplanetary flight is the next giant leap for humans in space. Yet consensus on even the smallest steps forward has proven elusive.

Demystifying the Mooc
From ACM Opinion

Demystifying the Mooc

When massive open online courses first grabbed the spotlight in 2011, many saw in them promise of a revolutionary force that would disrupt traditional higher education...

Why Rite Aid and Cvs Stopped Taking Apple Pay
From ACM Opinion

Why Rite Aid and Cvs Stopped Taking Apple Pay

The introduction of Apple Pay last Monday was widely described as the dawn of a new era for smartphone payments.

The Three Breakthroughs That Have Finally ­nleashed AI on the World
From ACM Opinion

The Three Breakthroughs That Have Finally ­nleashed AI on the World

A few months ago I made the trek to the sylvan campus of the IBM research labs in Yorktown Heights, New York, to catch an early glimpse of the fast-arriving, long...

Vimeo Tech Chief Takes on 'terrifying' Online Video Challenges
From ACM Opinion

Vimeo Tech Chief Takes on 'terrifying' Online Video Challenges

Think online video is old hat? Think again.

When Iphones Ring, the Economy Listens
From ACM Opinion

When Iphones Ring, the Economy Listens

Gloomy economic news and the wild swings of the stock market may be getting you down. But at least you can count on this: We’ve entered the sweet spot of the ...

Could Robots Become Too Cute For Comfort?
From ACM Opinion

Could Robots Become Too Cute For Comfort?

Would you share your innermost secret with a robot?

William Gibson Writes the Future
From ACM Opinion

William Gibson Writes the Future

William Gibson lives in an overwhelmingly green suburb with old-money roots south of Vancouver's downtown, and it is in this suburb that I am currently wandering...

Christine Kenneally's 'invisible History of the Human Race'
From ACM Opinion

Christine Kenneally's 'invisible History of the Human Race'

Of Christine Kenneally’s father’s father—a man neither Kenneally nor her father ever knew, a man who did the deed requisite to reproduction and promptly vanished—she...

Machine-Learning Maestro Michael Jordan on the Delusions of Big Data and Other Huge Engineering Efforts
From ACM Opinion

Machine-Learning Maestro Michael Jordan on the Delusions of Big Data and Other Huge Engineering Efforts

The overeager adoption of big data is likely to result in catastrophes of analysis comparable to a national epidemic of collapsing bridges.

Okcupid's Xoxo For Big Surveillance
From ACM Opinion

Okcupid's Xoxo For Big Surveillance

Christian Rudder is a good writer—so good, in fact, it's easy for readers of Dataclysm: Who We Are (When We Think No One’s Looking) to be smitten by his engaging...

Isaac Asimov Mulls 'how Do People Get New Ideas?'
From ACM Opinion

Isaac Asimov Mulls 'how Do People Get New Ideas?'

In 1959, I worked as a scientist at Allied Research Associates in Boston.

In Conversation Marc Andreessen
From ACM Opinion

In Conversation Marc Andreessen

It's not hard to coax an opinion out of Marc Andreessen.

To Siri, With Love
From ACM Opinion

To Siri, With Love

Just how bad a mother am I? I wondered, as I watched my 13-year-old son deep in conversation with Siri.
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